Monday, 19 March 2007

More Time Home, an Indian Massacre and a West Indian Struggle

I went back to the doctor again today. The swelling has diminished quite a bit but my foot is still painful. The limited walking experiment of the past few days has been called off as not only did I feel tingling sensations because of the tightness from being in a cast (which alone would have been fine) but also because my foot is still very painful. Mr. Podiatrist decided that it was best to just rest my foot and allow the tendons to heal fully and the tendonitis to disappear. He give me another cortisone shot again (which hurt more than the previous two, maybe because this one was closer to my ankle while the others were on my heel) and told me he wouldn’t cast me again as he trusted me not to abuse the boot and walk in it but keep my foot up when using the crutches. He averages that I will be home from work for a minimum of another six weeks! Thank God for the Barbadian social security system, which despite its many flaws, is still better than what prevails in many developed countries. If I was an American or living here as a normal immigrant, I would probably be out of a job by now.

The status quo was restored today when India massacred Bermuda. Actually it was restored yesterday when Australia slaughtered Netherlands. Order was also restored when West Indies won unconvincingly against Zimbabwe. There is no way that a team like Zimbabwe should have made 202 especially after losing those early wickets. The batting was not as disappointing as the bowling but it could still have been better. The openers were going along at a steady pace when Chanderpaul was drawn into a false stroke and then for the umpteenth time Gayle got out the same way he always does- caught behind the wicket. I just hope Chanderpaul can inject some life into his batting for the next match. Gayle seemed to be getting back into some sort of form but I find it so annoying that after all this time playing international cricket he still gets out the same way over and over. There is absolutely no excuse for mediocrity. Sarwan is also very annoying in his inability to play the short ball. How many times now has he been hit on his head? The way he took his eyes off the ball was also so school boyish and frankly pathetic. We saw the Samuels of old today but let’s hope that it was a one off and his new found maturity returns next match. There are many who will criticise Lara for batting so cautiously but I thought he played the perfect innings. It was a much better strategy to pace his innings and make sure he batted to the end. The fact is he should never have even been required to come out to the middle as the runs should have been knocked off with the loss of a maximum of one wicket. The batsmen who gifted their hands should be criticised, not Lara who did the smart thing and ensured a victory rather than attempting some big hitting heroics, losing his hand and overseeing the inevitable collapse. It was a captain’s innings.